


Put a Shirt On

by evanderblake



Series: The Giveaway Project [2]
Category: Game Grumps, Ninja Sex Party - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Ninja Ashley! AU, Polygrumps, ShipGrumps, Sickfic?, ashely needs medicine, brian has to try not to kill everyone, cute as fuck, parent! au, request, the boys are poor, they go grocery shopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-28 06:43:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14443605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evanderblake/pseuds/evanderblake
Summary: There's no food in the house. Ashley needs medicine for some stomach pain. And they're poor. So they go on a grocery shopping adventure with sick baby Ashley!





	Put a Shirt On

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HanaTheMighty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HanaTheMighty/gifts).



> This is fic #2 in the Giveaway Series! For @thefemmeunderfairylights on tumblr! Otherwise known as my best friend Hana!

Never before had their lives been filled with such intense, immeasurable joy.

Sure, they had been through a lot together. They’d tackled an evil regime in a futuristic dimension. They’d fought the evil gangs in Attitude City. They’d even faced off against their enemy clan, Samurai Abstinence Patrol, more times than they could count on both their hands and feet combined. And through all of that, they’d had a lot of fun.

But nothing came even remotely close to this moment, with Brian snuggled up against Danny’s back, and Danny curled around their daughter, barely three months old now.

The two were still asleep, Danny snoring softly beneath Brian’s embrace and Ashley’s little grunts and sniffles filling the room. He never thought that a day would come where he would be able to lay next to someone he loved with a child he loved even more. It seemed like such a foreign idea – for a ninja to have a child. It was certainly something he had to adjust to. It wasn’t quite the same as the many times Danny had brought in stray dogs, convincing Brian to let them stay the night, simply because… well, those were just dogs! This was a human baby, a little girl that they had influence over, that they had to actually take care of.

The idea of responsibility was scary to Brian. He had only ever had a responsibility to Danny, a silent promise to himself that he would protect him and fight with him until his final breath. That promise was easy to fulfill, especially after falling unabashedly in love with him. Anything that had once felt like a chore to him was done with a cheerful spirit, something everyone had considered rare previously. But now he had a child, a little baby girl, that he had to raise and take care of and nurture… those weren’t things he was familiar with.

He looked back down at his daughter’s wispy blonde curls, her mouth parted as she slept away, her little chest rising and falling with each short breath.

He loved her. So much.

He almost felt bad having to get out of bed, but it was getting late and he knew Ashley would be awake any second for her morning bottle. He wanted to beat the clock, to feed her before she started crying, which would inevitably wake Danny. And Danny had had a long night already.

He silently padded down to the kitchen, pulling out the container of formula and reading the instructions on the packaging before pulling the lid off and measuring two little scoops of the milky powder, dumping them into the bottle.

Hm. This bottle looked different than the ones Danny used. Brian shrugged, and kept mixing the concoction.

It was less than a second after he’d placed the bottle back on the counter when he heard Ashley’s squawk from the bedroom. He sprinted to the bedroom, snatched the baby from Danny’s unconscious grasps, and walked her back to the kitchen, smoothing down her little curls with his fingers, calming her cries slightly, but not completely. Grabbing the bottle off the counter, he sat at the kitchen table and began feeding his daughter. He watched how excited she became when she felt the nipple of the bottle brush her lips, knowing exactly what that meant. Her cries had stopped instantly, grabbing the bottle with both her little, chubby hands and holding on for dear life as she ate enthusiastically.

Brian just stared in awe, realizing how completely head-over-heels he was for this little girl. This unbelievably adorable baby, who Danny had just happened to pass by mistake, who Brian almost turned away the same day he fell in love with her.

He couldn’t imagine life without Ashley now.

Suddenly, his gangly, sleepy boyfriend stumbled into the kitchen, wearing nothing but well-worn blue boxers. “You have Ashley?” he mumbled, covering half his face with his hand, trying to rub the sleepy from his expression. “I heard her crying.”

Brian internally cursed himself for not just taking her when he woke up.

He went to move his hands to reply, but couldn’t. Ashley was still too little to hold the bottle up, and he had no other hands to use to reply. So he nodded.

Danny walked over, looking at his daughter, then to Brian who was still gazing lovingly at the little girl. He pressed a kiss to Ashley’s forehead, then to Brian’s, before moving to the refrigerator. He watched silently as Danny opened the door, squinting at the bright light that blinded him, then searching for food.

He chuckled softly before standing upright. “When was the last time we went shopping for groceries?” Danny asked, shutting the door and walking to the cupboards in their small kitchen. They had food, sure, but they had things that you couldn’t exactly make a meal out of. A jar of pickles, a half-empty gallon of milk, a package of cheese slices, still nearly full. And of course, the random assortment of condiments in the door, all different kinds of sauces and dressings, nothing that made sense with anything else. Their pantry was even emptier, with only a box of saltines left.

Well, they had been pretty busy.

“We have to go shopping today. We can’t live like this,” Danny stated, shaking his head. “How much money do you have?”

Brian pulled the now empty bottle from Ashley’s mouth, setting it on the table and readjusting her on his shoulder. “About thirty-five dollars,” he managed to sign one-handedly.

“And I’ve got…” he walked over to the table, opening the wallet that had been thrown there lazily after returning from a night on the town. “… fifty-three dollars! That’s plenty of money to get groceries for us!”

Brian’s brow furrowed. “You’re forgetting how expensive formula is. And we’re almost out,” he signed, then began patting Ashley’s back, trying to burp her. She squirmed and grunted in his arms, and he tried his hardest not to get too distracted by how cute her little noises could be.

“Shit, that’s right… Maybe I could–” Danny paused mid-sentence, looking at the empty bottle on the table, examining it in his hands. “Where did you get this bottle?”

Brian shrugged, “It was in the dishwasher.”

Danny pinched the bridge of his nose. “This… was one of the bottles we were supposed to get rid of. You know, the ones that give her tummy hurt? Remember that day when she was screaming for hours and we couldn’t figure out what was wrong?”

God, how could Brian forget that day? She was so miserable, her little cries echoing in his ears for hours on end, her face as red as a tomato as she screamed in pain that they couldn’t understand. Danny was crying right alongside her, not knowing what was happening or if he had hurt her somehow. Brian had ended up googling her symptoms until they realized the bottle she was using was causing her stomach to fill up with air. They needed special bottles for her.

And the only way to stop her crying was to get medicine. That they couldn’t afford.

So they had to tough it out. Everyone cried that day.

And somehow Brian had managed to forget all about those damned bottles, and had used one to feed her anyhow.

It was just a waiting game now. How long would it take before she started screaming in pain? Pain that they couldn’t remedy. Danny and Brian shared a long, exasperated look before they heard a small burp erupt from Ashley’s mouth, both their serious expressions breaking into small smiles.

“Go get dressed,” Brian signed, as he stood up with Ashley snuggled against his shoulder. “We’ve gotta get to the store before she starts screaming again.”

Danny nodded, then ran down the hall to their bedroom. Brian could only hope they could shop fast enough.

—

“What do we need to get? What do we even eat?” Danny questioned out loud, scribbling circles at the top of a sheet of notebook paper. He had slipped on a pair of jeans before getting distracted by their daughter again, so he sat at the table, shirtless, and slightly panicked. “We need formula for Ashley and that’s… how much?”

“About nineteen dollars per can. We need two to get us through the next week,” Brian explained, rocking Ashley gently in his arm. “That’s already almost forty dollars, Danny. How are we going to afford–”

“Stop that. Ashley needs food. That’s not negotiable. I’ll just have to… start working a little more to make up for the difference,” Danny reasoned, already feeling exhausted just imagining all the hours he’d have to pick up. All the hours he’d have to be away from his daughter. It was already hard enough.

“Well, that’s only forty-eight dollars to survive on for… maybe a week. What if she gets sick?”

Danny threw the pen down frustratedly. “She’s already going to be sick, Brian. I’m just waiting for her to start screaming in pain. Maybe I should just go alone.”

Brian shook his head. “You overspend. I can’t trust you to go alone.”

Danny’s serious expression broke into a giggle. “I’m sorry that I like sugary snacks! Maybe I could watch Ashley and you could go?”

Brian shook his head again. “If she starts screaming like she did last time, what would you even do?”

Danny considered this. Last time, even with Brian by his side, he wept over his daughter and was… utterly useless. He could admit that.

“I… don’t know.”

“So we have to go together then. Write down all the stuff we need and we’ll get whatever’s most important,” Brian signed as he stood to gather Ashley’s diaper bag. “Worst case scenario, we improvise.”

Danny stood up, taking Ashley from his arms and kissing him through his mask. “I don’t want to get banned from another grocery store, Bri.”

Brian shoved Danny slightly. “Go put a fucking shirt on. I’m not taking you to the store like that.”

“You’re just jealous that you can’t pull this off,” Danny whispered, raising his eyebrows seductively before buckling his daughter in to her carseat and walking off to the bedroom once more, swaying his hips in the way that made Brian’s cheeks warm.

—

The store was… overcrowded. When they entered the supermart, Brian holding Ashley as well as Danny’s hand, they were instantly overwhelmed. Danny swiftly snatched a cart from the onslaught of slow-moving customers, all of them seeming to have screaming children attached to their arms, and quickly began leading the way through the heard. It was absolute anarchy, half the customers standing in front of items they needed to get while the other half tried to wrangle their demon children who were screaming bloody murder for no apparent reason besides the classic, “I want it,” followed by a firm, “No,” and then wailing.

Brian wasn’t a fan of children, either. On top of their desperate need for food and the ticking time bomb that was his daughter, everything only seemed to grind down harder on his nerves. Danny noticed fairly quickly, the look in Brian’s eyes flashing anger and a tad bit of anxiety.

Danny squeezed Brian’s hand gently. “It’s going to be okay. Take a deep breath, and we’ll be out of here before you know it.”

Brian nodded once. He trusted Danny.

Ashley began to stir in his arms. His stomach flipped.

“We don’t have much time left. We’ve gotta move faster,” Brian signed desperately. “She’s gonna wake up soon and I have a feeling that’s when it’s going to hit.”

“I’m trying Bri, but it feels like everyone around me is a fucking dumbass. They’re all just standing in the way like animals!” Danny whispered harshly, annoyance ringing through his voice. “We don’t even have a quarter of the things we need and I can’t get to anything with everyone standing in the way!”

Brian sighed exasperatedly. “Well what can we do? We need to get home before she starts screaming, and we need to get food before we starve.”

Danny took Ashley from his arms and made intense eye contact with his boyfriend. “Do whatever you need to. I’m going to get formula and medicine. Get everything you can. And…” Danny glanced around quickly before leaning in closer. “Try not to get us banned. But I understand if you need to take some liberties.”

Brian’s eyes widened as he nodded at Danny.

Danny took off in one direction with Ashley, leaving Brian alone with the cart. He eyed their shopping list and examined the items. They needed… so many things. And all they had in the cart was oatmeal, bananas, and four boxes of mac n’ cheese.

Brian prowled up and down each aisle, snatching various things from different shelves, not minding who he was cutting off or pushing out of the way. He tried to refrain from violence per Danny’s request… but god, it was tempting to just take everyone out and get out of that store. To get back home to spend time with his daughter. To get medicine in her system before things turn sour.

He had to move faster. They had to get home.

Brian was crossing items off the list left and right, throwing things into the cart recklessly as he ran through the store. Then, from across the supermarket, he heard it. A wail. A wail that belonged to his very own daughter.

And the only thought that crossed his mind was, “Fuck it.”

They had enough food for a while. He ran with the cart back to the section with the medicine and stopped at the end of the aisle, finding Danny and grabbing his shoulder. When their eyes met, he saw that Danny was already crying along with Ashley, who wept in his arms.

“Open the medicine now,” Brian signed rapidly, holding Ashley against his chest and bouncing her, hoping to aid whatever pain she was in. “We can’t wait any longer.”

Danny fumbled with the bottle of medicine, “But… we haven’t p-paid for it y-yet.”

Brian raised his eyebrows. “It’s funny that you think I care about that. Give her the medicine.”

Danny filled the tiny plastic cup with a teaspoon of pink liquid and tried desperately to hold his daughter still as he dumped it into her mouth. For a split second, her crying stopped altogether. Then resumed as soon as she swallowed the medicine.

“Get the cart. We’re leaving,” Brian signed as he began walking toward the door.

“Brian, we haven’t–”

And he flashed an impatient look, an angry look, a desperate look.

“Right. Let’s go.”

—

Ashley was laying on the floor, kicking her little legs and screaming. Nothing they did could help her now, but they tried regardless.

Brian’s hand was on her tiny stomach rubbing small, gentle circles against her skin, hoping that it would soothe any pain. Danny was brushing back her little blonde curls and running the tip of his finger over her eyebrows, trying to calm her down or make her sleepy. But instead she screamed. And there was no end in sight.

Danny was also crying, choking back his sobs that would normally be louder than his daughter’s. He was constantly wiping tears from his face, holding his breath and randomly gasping for air.

“I c-can’t do this, B-Brian…” Danny wept, moving away from Ashley and covering his face with both hands. “She’s in s-so much p-pain…”

Brian couldn’t help but feel guilty. It was his fault for feeding her with the wrong bottle, for forgetting what had happened the last time. How much she had cried. How much Danny had cried right alongside her. He felt like an idiot. Like he didn’t deserve to be her father.

But then she just… stopped.

No more crying. No more kicking.

Her face was still red from screaming, but she wasn’t sobbing like she had been.

And then she yawned.

Brian and Danny looked up at each other, grins spreading across both of their faces as their daughter gazed up at them. They both laid down next to her, Danny cooing over her while Brian held her hand with his finger. Slowly but surely, her little eyelids drifted shut.

And so did Danny’s. And Brian’s.


End file.
